Mary Lewis WycheEssay Preview: Mary Lewis WycheReport this essayMary Lewis Wyche (1858 Ð- 1936), considered the “pioneer of organized nursing” (UNC-TV), was a remarkable woman who accomplished many great things throughout her nursing career. She graduated from Henderson College in Vance County, North Carolina and then moved to Chapel Hill. She had a strong belief in education, and it was there that she gave her several brothers a place to reside while attending college. She also gave small loans to needy students, and kept boarders (UNC-TV). Her contributions will be discussed here.
Mary Wyche realized the need for higher standards of nursing in North Carolina, and after attending a meeting of the International Council of Nurses, in New York, she returned to NC with the plan to start a state nursing association (UNC-TV). In an attempt to organize the Raleigh Nurses Association, in 1901, she sent out postcards to Raleigh nurses requesting them to attend a meeting she had planned, but when it was time for the meeting, nobody showed up (UNC-TV). She proceeded by sending out a second letter, two weeks later, about the need for another meeting since the last one went so well. This time, everyone showed up and the Raleigh Nurses Association was formed. This group set out to create the North Carolina State Nurses Association, and was successful. It was formed on October 28, 1902 (UNC-TV).
In an attempt to improve nursing standards in North Carolina, and through the association Mary Wyche helped create (the NC State Nurses Association), she had a law enacted that required registration of nurses Ð- making North Carolina, in 1903, the first state to legalize the registration of nurses.
Mary Lewis Wyche is an asset to the development of nursing. Her contributions have been tremendous to the field. She did all her work at a later age than most in her time Ð- she was 36 years old when she graduated from the diploma program at Philadelphia General Hospital (ANA). She came from a large family, consisting of six sisters and many brothers (UNC-TV); she helped all her brothers through school before initiating her own career goals. This was a self-less act on her part that, ideally, would be modeled by all nurses. Despite the cultural restraints of her era Mary Wyche was forced to overcome, she followed through with her visions and dreams. She lived in a time when women couldnt vote, but was none-the-less, able to create support for her idea of regulating nursing practice, in NC Legislature
Wrycke said that the decision to put a nursing position in the medical profession was inspired by Mary’s belief that the health and well-being of women would not be compromised by a lack of qualified medical people who do work for the country’s economy. She said, “Her legacy was to create a system where women and men could be involved in the health in our country and work on important legislation together to ensure those men and women who support this cause would get a chance to share their time under our care.”
The decision was taken in January 1995 but she worked the majority of her final weeks with a team of local physicians and nurses who work in two hospitals. During her final few months with her team he was assigned to monitor the work of two of Mary’s colleagues. Mary and her team were the first to observe a physician who was doing the work, “and they watched his work from afar and then knew he was a very important member of this organization”.
Wrycke said she felt, “it was something she had made long back in the day.” She also said that she felt her own experience at Pennsylvania General Hospital helped define her ideas.
Mary Wyche was a well-known teacher at Pennsylvania General Hospital. She was also instrumental in improving the standards of female nurses. Mary is widely credited with founding the Philadelphia General Hospital’s practice of preventive care, and she later won a national championship and received a contract to build the hospital. Mary Wyche is now honored as Penn’s only American nursing assistant.
Mary Wyche became the first N.V.A. public school nurse to receive the Pennsylvania State University degree in nursing in 1994 after living in Maryland from 1973-88. Since then she has worked throughout Penn with a broad variety of leadership skills including training in nursing’s field of health care, field health plans, nursing education. Mary earned the Penn State State Nursing Doctor of the Year Award for her work in the nursing field in 1999. She was honored with the prestigious N.C.L. Hall of Fame for “doing what no other candidate has done: improving quality of care at Ohio Children’s Hospital.”[1]
The Pennsylvania General Hospital’s decision to become an independent from the state Health Department was a historic decision, since the city of Penn had already been in a financial crisis at the time of Mary’s employment. The decision paved the way for Mary’s continued ability to serve as a member of the new state Health Department and to be part of what became the first comprehensive health care program of its kind in Europe after World War II.
The Pennsylvania General Hospital Association, an association of physicians, nurses, and residents, represented 5,000 doctors and nurses practicing in 14 states (New York, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and Washington). Physicians in all three hospitals took care of 400 patients in 1995 with more than two million hours of experience.[2] The total number of physicians and nurses on their respective professional wards was 11,000.[3] In January 1996, more than 3,000 physicians and nurses traveled from Washington with medical students to the Pennsylvania General Hospital in Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania was the home state due